The present disclosure is generally in the field of systems, devices, and methods for actively delivering beneficial substances into nanoporous mineralized tissue structures, such as teeth.
Dental enamel is composed primarily of calcium hydroxyapatite, and its anatomical structure is nanoporous. Transport processes in dental enamel take place mainly by diffusion, the rate of which is directly proportional to pore sizes in the enamel. Typically, the pores may contain water that may be replaced by substances through diffusion. The transport of substances through dental enamel nanopores and dentin micro and nanopores may be important for tissue formation, pathogenesis, and for preventive, therapeutic, and cosmetic procedures in dentistry.
Methods are well known for topically applying substances, such as fluorinating or whitening agents or other substances to the surface of teeth. Unfortunately, however, these topical treatments rely on passive diffusion of the substances into the tooth and are highly inefficient. Even with electrochemical (redox reaction) processes, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,775,795 to Khawaled et al., the techniques essentially provide only a surface treatment, which would penetrate generally no more than 2 to 5 microns into the tooth surface. Accordingly, there remains a need to provide systems and methods for delivering beneficial substances deeper into the nanoporous structure of the tooth, thereby providing better or more efficient dental treatments.
It would also be desirable to provide methods and systems for quantifying or comparing the rate of delivery of beneficial substances into teeth or other nanoporous mineralized tissue structures.